June 6, 2013
"As Mary Lou mentioned, Attorney General Eric Holder launched the Defending Childhood Initiative in response to the groundbreaking National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence, supported by the Office of Justice and Delinquency Prevention and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"The survey is the most comprehensive effort to date to measure children’s exposure to violence.
"Let me share with you four key findings:
60 percent of children in the United States were exposed to violence, crime, or abuse in their homes, schools and communities, either as victims or witnesses—during the 1-year initial survey period.
Almost 40 percent of children were direct victims of 2 or more violent acts during that same period.
1 in 10 were victims of violence 5 or more times.
And nearly 1 in 10 saw a family member assault another family member....
"The picture becomes even more complex when children are “polyvictims”—meaning, they are exposed to multiple types of violence, as is true for 1 in 10 children in this country....
"In April, Attorney General Holder signed off on the action plan, which means things are being set in motion . . . things are moving ahead....
"There are too many recommendations in our report to mention in detail here, but today I am going to focus on six of those recommendations...."
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/newsroom/speeches/2013/13_0606rllistenbee.pdf
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